Sword Art Online: A Story Rewritten
by diva123
Summary: Kirito fights, saves the day, gets Asuna and everything goes as planned, right? Wrong. In the story of a ...slightly innocent girl getting sucked into the world of her favourite anime, what will happen? Will there be a forbidden fighter? Or better yet a forbidden love?
1. Chapter 1

Yello!

Me: it's so nice to be here! *imaginary crowd roars*

The doctor: I think you're a little bit insane.

Me: what are you doing here? Back into Doctor Who you go!

Asuna: … You're weird.

Me: Yes I am! This is one of my first stories ever so PLEASE no flames. None whatsoever. We do not appreciate flames here!

Asuna: Just hurry up with the story already.

Me: Alright alright!

Chapter 1

Well this was…new.

I looked around at my surroundings. A market. I was in some kind of old town or market. Now there's nothing wrong with markets. People selling stuff, a lively buzz in the air, in all its actually nice. But here's the thing, I was definitely NOT in a market five minutes ago.

I had just been getting ready for bed when my stomach had growled in protest. I hadn't eaten any dinner yet as it was fish. I HATE fish. Absolutely despise it. I ignored my hunger for a bit until it felt like rats were gnawing away at my insides. I gave up and decided to go to the kitchen for a quick snack. I walked to my door and stepped out… into a market.

People of different ages and genders although mostly female, were walking all over the place talking and buying swords and gear. That's the other thing, was this World war 3 or something? Everyone was in battle armor and had weapons, mostly swords. They were all stunningly gorgeous and I wondered how so many pretty faces were gathered in one place. Was this a convention? And the _**hair**_. Not only did some persons have incredulously long hair, it was all different colours! I mean I know people like to mess around with hair dye, but green? And oh my word was that purple?

I stuck out like a sore thumb, gaping at everyone as some clearly watched at me. Not only did I not have any armor or weapon and was pretty plain with my looks, but as I said before I was getting ready for bed so yes, you guessed it, I was in my pajamas.

Some people gawked at me, some spoke to each other in hushed whispers, glancing at me and some just outright stared. I turned back around hoping to find the door to my bedroom or perhaps a dark hole to open up and save me from this humiliation but no such luck.

I groaned and ran in a random direction hoping to find some place where I wouldn't be so noticed. I found an alleyway and snuck in sighing as I was no longer being observed. What the hell just happened? I looked around then up at the blue sky. Something did feel familiar about this place but I just couldn't put my finger on it. But seriously am I asleep? No, everything is too real. Just to make sure I pinched my arm, exclaiming at the sudden flash of pain. Okay so not a dream. I find it pretty unlikely that I fell asleep and started dreaming as soon as I stepped out of my bedroom anyway.

I sighed in frustration as my surroundings suddenly began to look blurry. What now? My eyesight began to get hazy so I rubbed them until they were clear again. I looked around, nothing had happened. The walls of the alley just seemed a little less detailed, sort of. What was that then? I groaned and looked down at my hands placing my head in them before doing a double take and looking at my hands again. They were cartoon! Or to be more specific, anime. I looked at my hands carefully, inspecting every part of my body before settling on waving my arms around frantically. I took a deep breath and put my hands at my side. When I did that, my left hand did a downward movement and a virtual screen popped up in the air in front of me.

I am not embarrassed to say I screamed like a baby.

I stepped around it, seeing it follow my every movement and inspected it. There it was! That spark of familiarity again. Where did I remember this from? It was like a light bulb appeared over my head and I gasped. Sword Art Online! That's where this is all from! I can't believe I didn't figure it out earlier. After all this is my favourite anime.

But what the HECK was I doing here? How did I even get here in the first place? Was I even supposed to be here? How would I survive the two years in here? I pushed all negative thoughts to the side. Why was I worrying? I was in my favourite anime! For the moment, I'm going to enjoy this. As soon as I finished that thought I heard a loud ringing that I recognized as the town bells from the central town. A white light filled my eyes and I grinned.

I looked around again as the light faded from view. Everyone except me looked startled at the forced teleport. As more people were transferred to the Starting City, I heard a very familiar voice.

"A forced teleport?"

I turned around and saw a good looking man with long black hair standing next to another fair looking man with long pink hair. Strange, the hair colours didn't seem weird now. My heart stopped before beating erratically. Oh my god it was Kirito and Klein! But more importantly it was Kirito! I had to mentally chain my inner fan girl to the wall. Someone shouted and pointed to the sky, distracting me from my current situation.

A red sign started to blink in the sky until the whole place was filled with 'System Announcement' and 'Warning'. A red, thick liquid that looked disgustingly like blood began to ooze out of the spaces between the signs. Before the liquid reached us, it curled and formed the shape of a gigantic hooded faceless figure.

"Attention players." Kayaba Akihiko said in a loud booming voice. Everyone looked at him in curiosity and slight fear. I just continued to grin away. "Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment I am the sole person who can control this world." He took out his giant menu and continued to speak. "I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one can shut down or remove the nerve gear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the nerve gear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life." People gasped as they heard the information I already knew. Murmurs began to fill the place before Kayaba drew their attention and started speaking.

"Unfortunately several player's friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the nerve gear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."

Screens began to show news reports on the incident, death headlines and people panicking. One showed a picture of a girl I immediately recognized to be Suguha crying with her mother in front of Kirito's house. I glanced over to him and noticed his fist was clenched tightly.

"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume the danger of the Nerve gear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game." What? How could he even say that with a straight face? Or cloak or whatever. Did he even have a face under that thing? "But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the nerve gear will destroy your brain." All muttering was long forgotten and everyone looked up at him in silence, fearfully anticipating his next words. "You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100 and you will clear the game."

People began to shout out their protests.

"Clear all 100 floors?"

"That's impossible!"

"The beta testers made it nowhere that high!"

"The man's insane!"

I began to grow slightly nervous at the growing tension in the air and twiddled my thumbs. Kayaba better finish his long speech soon.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves," Yeah because we're going to open a present from a psychopath who wants to kill us. Even so, I opened my item storage and saw the title 'Mirror'. I sighed in relief that this game was in English but didn't open the mirror. It made no sense anyway, I already look like myself. Everyone took out theirs but mine remained untouched. As everyone was engulfed in their transformation I felt someone staring at me. I turned around but there was no one there. I looked up and saw Kayaba facing me, boring holes through me with his nonexistent eyes. I glared at him back for a moment before I turned around in defeat. I took out the mirror and felt myself began to glow with surprisingly cold blue flames. When I was done I looked back at the mirror and was surprised at what I saw. This girl was NOT me. I had long pink hair with blue highlights at the end that was pulled up into a high ponytail. My eyes were a dazzling blue and my clothes were suddenly purple, black and loose fitting. I think I was the only one here who changed clothes. I was a bit shorter and my bust had obviously grown a little. I blushed and started checking myself at different angles before frowning. What was the meaning of this? I looked at Kirito and Klein who were gawking at each other as Kirito explained what had happened to them before turning to Kayaba. Even though I watched the anime I was still thinking the exact thought running through everyone's heads. SHI-I mean why?

"Right now you're probably wondering why?" Oh I don't know maybe…. OF COURSE WE'RE THINKING WHY! "Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online do this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason, to create this world and intervene in it. And now it is complete!" If evil had a face (which Kayaba technically didn't have) it would have looked like Kayaba at that moment. The cloak started rippling up and down at the face and I could swear he was smirking while laughing.

"This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck players." Kayaba disappeared with the signs and the day was bright again. There was a shocked moment of tentative silence. A girl, I think Silica let out a piercing shriek that cut through the tension and started the chaos.

"NO!"

Immediately the place sprung to life and players demanded to be let out, some exclaiming they had a meeting, not understanding how serious this was. I saw Kirito and Klein slip away and I silently followed them, honestly not knowing what to do. I listened to their bonding conversation as I hid behind a building and sighed when it was silent once more. Kirito was gone now and so was Klein. I had no idea where to start training or 'grinding' as they called it. My shoulders slumped and I looked through my item storage to find a teleporting crystal. I made up my mind and teleported back to the town to find some answers.

Me: And that's it folks! It is currently one o' clock in the morning and I really should be getting to bed but I wanted to write this so I drank some coffee that I think made me a little hyperactive but I don't really think so because I feel totally fine since I'm brimming on the happiness that pooped up ha I said pooped I mean popped up inside of me out of nowhere that-

Asuna: Alright, stop! We get it! Sorry guys she's a little….high right now. She won't stop talking. I can help her with that though…..

Asuna walks over to me drawing out sword.

Me: Hey… Asuna that's a really big sword you have there and really colourful too but I don't think you should hold it up like that because it looks like your about to hit me with some awesome moves from-AAAAAHHHHH!

Lisbeth: Just press that nice big button at the bottom and review if you want us to continue this stor- Asuna, ASUNA! THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP TORTURING HER! *pauses to listen* oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it-NO DON'T COME OVER HERE…. AAAAAHHHHHHH!


	2. Chapter 2

Yello!

Me: Hello people!

Asuna *glare* …..NO one wants to say hi.

ME: Why so meaney weeny today Asuna?

Asuna: Oh I don't know, maybe because I'm…TIED UP TO A CHAIR.

Me: That's your punishment for trying to beat me up with a sword yesterday.

Asuna: Trying? I totally kicked your butt! And that still doesn't explain the creepy clowns all around me. *shivers*

Me: Well at least you're tied up with Kirito!

Asuna:…No I'm not.

Me: Of course you're not! Did you really think I would tie Kirito up? As if! Hey…where is he anyway?

Asuna: Oh I think he's sleeping.

Me: It's three o' clock… Oh well! Asuna please do the disclaimer!

Asuna: She doesn't own us! If she did no one would die and she and Kirito would probably be together….

ME: I didn't say that! *shifty eyes*

Asuna: You were thinking it.

Me: ….

Chapter 2

I hate bunnies.

When I went back to the city, I had gotten some fighting advice from some NPCs and some free potions. I stuck to the advice Kirito gave Klein and began to move quickly to the next area. I had gotten a light blue and white starting sword from my inventory and a deep blue shield. I immediately discarded the shield for further use since it slowed me down and distracted me from fighting. I had gone to the level one forest and I had to admit that it was some good hunting ground.

I had been wandering around for a bit, jumping at every sound. My heart leaped when the bush in front of me started to shake. I immediately grasped my sword and took a fighting stance. My legs were firmly onto the ground and apart, my left foot slightly in front. My waist was slightly hunched forward and my chin was down, my sword ready to strike. I had remembered the position as Kirito's from the show and wanted to master it.

A snowy, long eared rabbit jumped out of the bushes and I looked at it warily. After I was pretty sure it wasn't going to cause me any harm I started to walk away. Sighing, I continued on my journey when I suddenly caught movement in the corner of my eye. A blurry object was coming straight for me and on impulse I ducked and rolled away. I was just in time to narrowly escape a pair of long, sharp teeth that had gone for my neck. I gasped, taken aback. When had I gained those fighting instincts?

The small fiend regained its balance and growled at me. Before my eyes, the innocent snowy rabbit's teeth had grown incredibly long. Its body started to gain height, a broad chest and muscles until it was almost towering over me. Its skin was tinged red and its eyes became bloodshot. The creature flexed its hands and gave a deep, loud growl that resonated throughout my entire body. I took a step back and ignored the pinch of fear that rose from within me.

I really hate bunnies.

Oh why had I decided to go solo? I was too prideful that's why. I should've joined a party or at least friended some people. But nooo, I waned to try out on my own. Now I was going to pay for it.

The creature I had decided to nickname 'Fuzzy Killer' dove towards me and snapped its teeth. I dodged shakily and gritted my teeth. I circled quickly around it and swung at it. My sword bounced harmlessly off its body and I let out a groan. How did you activate a sword skill again?

I dodged another strike and tried to remember Kirito's first advice to Klein.

"**_If you do the motion input right and activate a sword skill, the system will ensure the technique connects."_**

I leaped into the air and landed a good way away from it. It rushed towards me and I gulped, holding my ground.

**_"Add a slight pause and when you feel the skill beginning to activate, let it explode."_**

As I remembered those words a strange feeling came over my body as if I were no longer in control. I activated a sword skill and rushed towards the creature. My legs were flying across the ground with such speed it was as if I was running on mid air. I let out a yell and stabbed the sword through the creature's body. Its eyes opened wide and it shattered into a thousand pieces of light. My face lit up in a grin that was almost sadistic.

"Yes." I whispered in glee.

…

I walked purposely with my cloak covering my body. Hey if Kayaba and Asuna could do it, why couldn't I? It had been a month since we all entered this hell game and we still haven't found the first floor boss yet. Since I had a rather convenient photographic memory, I knew where it was but I wasn't sure I should tell anyone. In fact couldn't I just confront Heathcliff and tell everyone right now? No, Kirito isn't strong enough yet. Plus two years should pass anyway. Ugh. I don't even know why I'm here and yet I have to spend two YEARS in here. This sucks!

Anyway today everyone's holding a meeting on how to defeat the first floor boss. I approached the podium and sat on a bench. It was depressing how 2000 people had died since the game started and everyone was silent, muttering between themselves until Diabel started to speak.

"Okay! Everybody lets start!" Diabel said.

I got more comfortable in my seat and looked over at a boy with dark hair that was just sitting. Oh my God, it was Kirito! My heart started beating erratically and my eyes gleamed with fan girl enthusiasm. I clenched my fists and whistled quietly but innocently, stealing glances at him. If he saw me he would have been suspicious. Thank god for the cloak!

"Thank you for coming today! My name is Diabel. I like to consider my job as knight." He said jokingly.

Everyone broke down into laughter except Kirito and me. I just rolled my eyes while Kirito stared determinably ahead. A guy in the front laughed.

"There's no job system in this game!" he said

"A knight? You should take this seriously!" another voice shouted.

"Then is this meeting a joke too?" A voice said, louder than the rest.

Diabel put down his hands which had been gesturing and looked up with a serious expression that gave me whiplash.

"Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower." He said his face severe.

People were clearly curious and leaned at the edge of their seats in anticipation. Some shouted out 'seriously' and other questioning remarks.

I zoned out after this, knowing that the rest wasn't very important. I instead looked over at Kirito again and noticed he was smiling. I smiled to myself as my eyes travelled over the structure of his chin, the way his lips curved upwards delicately when he grinned. And, NO I did not like him. I am not going down that road. It's just that he was…..cute. Ahem! I mean it was just me being a fan girl! That's all I meant!

His eyebrows suddenly slid up at something Diabel said and I realized the blue haired man had said to team up in parties. Kirito's eyes searched the whole area, panicky until his eyes settled on me. I immediately tried to play it off cool and stared deadly in front of me. Wait a second, where was Asuna?

He quickly scooted over to me and also tried to play it cool.

"You got left out too huh?"

"No," I said. "Everyone already knew each other so what's the point?"

"A solo player?" Kirito asked looking me up and down. I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat. "You want to form a party with me then?"

I seemed to consider the offer for a moment when really, I was screaming YES on the inside.

"He says we can't beat the boss on our own. So just for this fight?" He tried to reason with me. As if I needed any reasoning.

I discreetly looked around, wondering where Asuna was. I turned my head in his direction and nodded slowly. He looked slightly relieved and sent me a request. As it popped up in front of me I couldn't help but be glad again that this game was in English. If it had been In Japanese…..I don't think I needed to finish that sentence.

I accepted the invitation and saw Kirito's HP bar appear beneath mine. His eyes furrowed and I saw him focus on my name.

"Okay have you formed your parties?" Diabel asked. "Okay! Then-"

"Just a second!" A figure of a man appeared above the seats. He jumped and skipped rows until he reached the ground. An annoying smirk was on his face.

"My name's Kibaou," he and I said simultaneously, me saying it along with him under my breath. I think I said it a bit loud though because I caught the suspicious look Kirito threw at me. Shoot.

"I wanna say something before we take on the boss!" he said and I sighed. This was it. "Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!" Even though I knew what he said was foolishness, I couldn't help but feel a huge pile of guilt topple down on my conscious. I was even worse than the beta testers.

"Kibaou-san," Diabel said, "Are you referring to the beta testers?"

"Of course am!" he shouted. His voice was annoying and was starting to grate on my nerves. I wanted to slice off his head with my swor- My eyes widened. Did I just seriously think that? Something was becoming seriously wrong with me. I gulped nervously.

"On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners and they all disappeared!" I clenched my fists in anger discreetly. "They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then they just ignored the rest of us." My finger nails digged inside my palm.

Kibaou turned towards all of us and pointed a finger. "I'm sure someone here was in the beta!" he accused. "They should bend down on their knees and apologize and give up all the items and money they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!"

I looked over at Kirito and saw that his eyes were partially closed and he was shaking with guilt. Sweat started to bead at his forehead and his fists clenched. That was the last straw. I snapped and began to see red. My hand wrapped around the hilt of my sword and I let out a low, quiet growl. I made to stand and murder the orange haired arrogant man, when a warm hand wrapped around my wrist. I looked up at Kirito in surprise as he captured me with his intense stare. Despite the fear and guilt in his eyes, he had pushed it back and was trying to stop me from doing something rash. He stared severely at me for a second, his face set before his lips simply turned up in a soft smile.

That smile melted all the anger I might have still had and I sat down with an indignant huff. No one else noticed our silent conversation.

"May I speak?" A big, bulky man raised his hand. My face lightened up a bit. I loved Egil! He got up and walked over to Kibaou. Kibaou seemed slightly intimidated by the obviously bigger man and craned his head back to look at him.

"My name is Egil," Egil said."Let me get this straight. You're saying that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize and provide compensation. Correct?" I have to admit, Egil did a great job of looking frightening. Kibaou looked up at him warily.

"Y-yeah," he stammered.

Egil's face remained stoic as he took out a small, thin book with a blank brown colour. "You got this guide book, didn't you?" he asked. "It was provided for free at the item store."

"Sure I did!" Kibaou said nonchalantly, not getting it."Why?"

"It was complied from information given by the beta testers." He finished. People gasped and began muttering again. Kibaou gave a nasty frown.

"Listen!" Egil said, turning to face us. "Everyone had equal access to this information. And even still many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the boss."

Everyone seemed satisfied and I saw Kirito give an obvious sigh of relief. Kibaou sneered at Egil and sat down hard like a little child. Egil went and sat a little beside him.

"All right. Then can we resume?" Diabel asked politely. Everyone gave their consent by a silent nodding of their heads. "The latest edition of that guide book was just issued, and it contains information on the boss." Even Kibaou looked interested now.

"According to it, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by assistants known as Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars and when the last one enters the red zone, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar." Diabel said.

'Yeah right' I thought grimly. 'A Talwar, sure." Kirito seemed interested with this information. "His attack patterns changes as well." The crowd murmured again with amazement.

"This concludes the briefing. Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP goes to the party tat defeats the monster, and whoever receives an item, keeps it. Any objections?" After a moment of silence he spoke up again. "Okay, we leave tomorrow, at ten in the morning." He swept his hand to the right. "See you there!"

The crowd immediately dispersed. I swept my eyes over everyone, seeing if I could catch a hint of a red coat or orange hair. I saw a glimpse of orange hair slipping out the exit and I quickly got up and followed. I didn't care I f Kirito was following me. The events weren't going as I saw them to be so I had to go to Asuna herself.

I got mixed with different people and lost sight of whatever hint of Asuna I had got. I sighed and went to an inn for the day. I had a little nap and woke up when the sky was dark. I went to buy food but the only thing I could afford since I was level five, was a piece of bread. I sat in a deserted place with one functioning lantern and started to eat my meal. I nearly gagged immediately. I had initially thought this was bread when I had watched the show but it actually just tasted like a big piece of dry flour. I comically tried to tear a piece of it off with my mouth but remained fruitless. I sighed and placed the 'food' in my lap.

"That tastes pretty good doesn't it? After all you were trying to eat it so badly." An amused voice said from behind me. I turned around and sighed.

"Why are you here?" I asked uninterestedly.

"May I sit down?" he asked ignoring my question. I nodded yes reluctantly and he sat down. Instead of moving away like Asuna would have, I merely stayed in the same position and stared at him as he ate the 'bread'.

"Are you really eating that stuff?" I asked incredulously. Hmm, I was changing the lines.

"Of course I am! I've been eating at least one daily, ever since arriving in this town. I do change it up a little though," he said. He brought out a small container and placed it between us. I must have staring at it suspiciously, because he told me to put some on the bread. Well naw duh.

I tapped the covering apprehensively watching my finger glow with a heavy substance. I wiped it onto the 'bread' and was about to take a bite when the food slipped through my clumsy fingers and onto the floor.

"Nooo!" I shouted then groaned. Kirito looked at me, trying not to laugh then held out his food to me.

"Here, you can have mine." He said with a perfect smile. I shook my head immediately.

"What are you talking about? That's your food! I'm not eating it!" I declared

"Fine then want to share?"

A blush lined my cheeks and I declined. "Nope. Not hungry." My belly chose that exact moment to give a loud grumble.

"I think you are," Kirito laughed. I sulked then muttered out a 'fine'.

"Well come on then," Kirito said motioning to come closer. "I won't bite."

I scooted over just a little. Kirito sighed and wrapped a hand around my shoulder to bring me closer to him. I was engulfed by the smell of him and I began to like being here beside him-

SCREECH! BEEP BEEP!

I IMMEDIATELY stopped that train of thought. I am NOT going down that road. He gave the bread and cream to me that he already bit and a faint blush appeared apon my cheeks. It was kinda like an indirect kiss-NOPE! Not going there!

I sank my teeth into the now soft, sweet bread and nearly moaned at the bursting sugary flavor. I had nearly consumed half the bread when I realized I was **sharing**. I wiped my mouth and handed it back to Kirito reluctantly. He looked at me with a knowing smile and bit back into the bread. I blushed again and quickly scooted back to the other side of the seat.

"It's the reward for a quest called "The Heifer Strikes Back" one village behind us. If you want to do it I'll show you the tric-"He began.

I didn't even let him finish his sentence as I shook my head furiously. "I didn't come here to eat nice food."

"Then why?" he asked.

"I came here so I could get a chance to fight for what I will believe in. I want to fight for the people who cannot fight themselves. I want to still be me and fight for the rest of my life and not just sit down and rot. Even if I die tomorrow, or in a few hours, or in the next minute, its okay." I said meaningfully then looked down at my hands. "It's not like anyone will care anyways," I muttered, not intending for Kirito to hear me but unknown to me, he did.

He stared at me for a moment before tossing a piece of the bread into his mouth. "I wouldn't want a party member dying on me. So at the least, don't die tomorrow." He said and I sighed. Was that all I was to him? A party member? Of course. Well what else would I be? I should stop being stupid. While I've known him for most of my life, he's known me for only just a couple hours. He met me this morning!

I yawned and got on my feet.

"I think it's time for me to get going," I said quietly. He nodded in understanding and rose also. We held out our hands to shake but that felt a bit formal. A hug would be too personal as we just met. We settled on a friendly wave and I staggered to my inn, even though I had a nap before, I was stumbling with tiredness. I reached my room and collapsed on my bed. Tomorrow could wait a little longer.


End file.
